Today’s edition of quick hits.
* A case worth watching: “A coalition of health and environmental groups sued the Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday, challenging the rescinding of a scientific finding that has been the central basis for U.S. action to regulate greenhouse gas emissions and fight climate change.”
* The on-again, off-again infrastructure project is on again: “The Trump administration on Wednesday released the rest of the funds it had been withholding for the construction of a major rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey, New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said Wednesday.”
* A welcome reversal: “The Food and Drug Administration reversed course Wednesday and agreed to review for approval Moderna’s new flu vaccine based on mRNA technology.”
* In Ukraine: “A delegation of U.S. senators was returning Wednesday from a trip to Ukraine, hoping to spur action in Congress for a series of sanctions meant to economically cripple Moscow and pressure President Vladimir Putin to make key concessions in peace talks. It was the first time U.S. senators have visited Odesa, Ukraine’s third-most populous city and an economically crucial Black Sea port that has been particularly targeted by Russia, since the war began nearly four years ago.”
* Trump administration diplomats should at least try to be diplomatic: “Belgium’s government summoned President Trump’s ambassador after he accused his host nation of an antisemitic action and criticized a Belgian official in a series of posts on social media. The meeting on Tuesday between the ambassador, Bill White, and a representative from Belgium’s foreign office came at a moment of heightened tension as the Trump administration paints governments across Europe as out of line with American values.” * That Team Trump is still fighting to hide painful truths from the public speaks volumes: “The Trump administration will appeal a federal judge’s order to restore a Philadelphia exhibit on the nine people enslaved by George Washington at his former home on Independence Mall. The Justice Department insists the administration alone can decide what stories are told at National Park Service properties.” * Members of Team Trump keep using the word “hoax,” but I don’t think it means what they think it means: “Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr on Wednesday dismissed the furor surrounding Stephen Colbert’s unaired interview with Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico — calling it a ‘hoax’ to blame the Trump administration for CBS’ programming decisions.” See you tomorrow.
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."
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